Jupiter slept through the rest of the day, all of the night and well into the next morning, not stirring once, even when her head was stitched up and broken ribs poked and prodded by the doctor. She slept through all of that, but woke up when someone dropped something in the kitchen. Her eyes flew open and she sat up quickly, grabbing her ribs in pain, but looking around her for any danger. She quickly relaxed. She was safe, inside Hershel's home, in one of the spare bedrooms...

Her calm only lasted a few seconds though as she remembered the events leading up to her losing consciousness, and Daryl had been shot. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, Jupiter decided to give herself a few seconds to feel her pain, but then she was going to get up and get on with it. They had a little girl to find, and she had to check if Daryl was ok.

When her three seconds were up, she grit her teeth and stood, ignoring the pain in her side and grabbed the clean clothes she'd been left on the side, putting them on with some difficulty, but managing. She was just pulling on her shoes when she heard voices outside of her door, one younger than the other.

"Dad, when can I go in and see her?" Carl asked, and Jupiter grinned and stood, walking to the door and opening it to find Carl and Rick standing outside, Carl looking much better than he had been before. When he saw her, his face lit up and she grinned back at him.

"Jupiter!" He beamed, hugging her quickly, and even though it made her chest explode in pain, she didn't tell him to let go, and instead gently hugged him back, scared of hurting him. When he stepped back, she smiled at him again, trying to mask the pain on her face. She wasn't fooling Rick though, and he guided Carl back a step.

"How're you feeling mate?" She asked the young boy, but he just shrugged. Shrugged after being shot and almost dying a few days before, he just shrugged it off. She had to laugh, once again wincing at the pain, but ruffled his hair anyway. "You're one brave kid, Carl... And tougher than me!"

He laughed, looking proud. Rick was standing behind him, the same expression on his face, but when he looked at Jupiter, he looked a little worried, making Jupiter's heart stop for a second. Had something happened to Daryl?

Rick must have read her expression as he told Carl to go find his mum, and then the two of them watched him run off, looking strong all things considered. When he was out of earshot, Jupiter spun to Rick. "Is Daryl..."

Rick quickly nodded. "Oh he's fine! He's out in his tent. He got patched up last night and we told him to rest... What about you? Daryl told us what happened, and you look like Hell, no offence."

Jupiter smirked at him. "None taken... Daryl though... Is he really ok? Who shot him?" She asked, knowing who it was likely to be, which was only confirmed when Rick told her it was Andrea.

"She thought he was a walker... She feels terrible about it, so go easy on her?" He tried, but Jupiter made no promises. She could have killed Daryl, just to prove that she could shoot. It was a good thing she was such a shitty shot, or Daryl would be dead. Rick could read her expression, but chose not to comment, and instead changed the subject. "How're you feeling? You were out for a while, and Hershel says you've got broken ribs, maybe a concussion. You probably shouldn't be up and around yet... I'll get Hershel."

Jupiter shook her head and started walking, grabbing a roll of medical tape from the side as she went, heading out of the house to where she'd find Daryl. When some of the others saw her on her feet, they waved, and she returned the gesture but didn't stop to talk. Even Rick took the hint and stopped following her, so when she did reach Daryl's tent, they were alone. Or at least they should have been. Andrea was just leaving the tent as Jupiter arrived and the two women looked at each other. Andrea looked away first, ducking around Jupiter and walking away without a word.

"Shit shot," Juniper muttered under her breath as she walked into Daryl's tent, finding him on his cot, a book in his hand and his crossbow bolt across his stomach. He looked fine, so Jupiter released the breath she didn't know she'd been holding and smirked at him as she sat down on the end of his cot. "Dude, you shouldn't play with them things. Might hurt yourself..."

Daryl chuckled and threw the book at her gently, hitting her in the arm. "Yeah, real funny..." He sat up and looked at her. "What about you? How you doing?" He asked, and she shrugged and stood up slowly.

"Show me yours and I'll show you mine?" She suggested and Daryl nodded and lifted his shirt to show his stitched up wound, inflamed around it and looking sore as hell. He turned and she saw an identical one on the back, not to mention numerous other scars that she barely glimpsed before he dropped his shirt. She winced at the sight of his new wounds but then lifted her own shirt, showing him the multiple bruises down her side, darker around her broken ribs, but bright purple and red, like a huge tattoo. She had a few of them too, but Daryl was leaning forward and looking at the bruises.

"Shit that looks bad," he looked up at her and she dropped her shirt again. "You should get some rest. We can't go looking for Sophia today, but Shane and Andrea are covering for us. They found a lead..."

Jupiter nodded, much as she didn't like it. She wanted to be out there, but she was in no shape to help anyone. So she'd rest up, and then tomorrow the two of them would head out again. Until then, she was going to actually get around to setting up her own tent and get some rest.

So she found her tent in the RV and then with the help of Lori, she pitched it and set up her cot inside. Lori was just leaving when Jupiter called out to her. "Lori, wait... Can I trouble you for one more favour?" She asked, and Lori nodded and came back in. Blushing slightly, Jupiter explained that she couldn't lift her arms high enough to do her own hair so could Lori braid it for her. Lori just laughed and agreed, gently fingercombing Jupiters long curly brown hair out before starting to french braid it.

Jupiter sat on her cot, staring at the floor and thinking of something to say, but Lori saved her the effort when she spoke. "We all really appreciate you and Daryl going out to look for Sophia, Carol most of all. You barely know us, but you've done so much to help, and I just want to thank you on behalf of everyone..."

Jupiter blushed a little at the praise and tried to shrug it off. "It's mainly Daryl. He's the one you should be thanking. I wouldn't know where to start without him, and he saved my arse a few times. I'd be dead right now if not for him..." It was true. She wouldn't have made it out of the woods if not for him.

Lori finished her hair and then left her alone, so Jupiter stripped out of her shirt and then fished in her beg for some bandages and the tape she'd picked up earlier, knowing she had to do something about her pain. She bound her ribs tight, hopefully supporting them so she'd be able to move around in less pain, and then put her shirt back on, laying down on her cot and thinking about when they found the little girl, and heading back into the city to find Alaska and Merle.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next day started off ok, the group sitting around their campsite, eating breakfast and talking quietly between themselves. Daryl and Jupiter were gonna go look for Sophia again as Shane and Andrea had had no luck the day before, they were just eating breakfast and then they were gonna go.

Jupiter was feeling better, though her chest was tight and she couldn't take deep breaths any more, but her ribs were feeling better, and she could lift her arms enough to climb into a saddle, so she'd be fine. Daryl was looking better too, though he still winced if he moved too fast, she noticed. She didn't let it bother her too much though. She'd woken up that morning with a good feeling. They were gonna find her today, she just knew it.

So yeah, Jupiter's morning was going great, right up until the point when Glenn stood up and announced the barn was full of walkers. She froze with her fork between her mouth and plate and stared at him, just like everyone else was. He had to be kidding, surely? But his face suggested otherwise, so everyone got to their feet and made their way to the barn.

Shane lost it, yelling at Rick about how wrong it was to keep walkers in a barn instead of killing them, and for once, Jupiter agreed with Shane. Yeah they were locked up, but they were still dangerous, and if they managed to get out in the night, it'd be like a rerun of Jupiter's first night with the group, but maybe none of them would have survived.

However, Rick didn't want to go in and kill them, as it was Hershel's land and his decision. So Shane said they should leave, to which Rick disagreed and when questioned, it was Carol who stepped forward. If she hadn't, Jupiter would have.

"Because my daughter's still out there," she insisted. Shane didn't see that as an issue anymore though and stared at Carol for a few seconds before finally saying what has been eating him for days. "I think it's about time we all started to consider the other possibility," he started, but Jupiter stepped forward and argued for Carol.

"I don't think so! Daryl and I found her doll two days ago! We're close to finding her!" She argued, but Shane just laughed at her.

"Yeah thats what you did guys. You found a DOLL!"

Her anger was bubbling, but this time it was Daryl who stepped forward, getting into Shane's face. "You don't know what the hell you're talking about!"

From there they had an argument, which ended with Shane saying Daryl would scare Sophia off with how he acted, the walkers ears around his neck- making Daryl lose his temper and start yelling back, trying to jump at him, but Rick jumped in between them, trying to separate them. Jupiter had half a mind to let them fight it out, as Shane deserved to have his ass kicked for what he was saying, but Daryl was still injured and Shane would win. So Jupiter ran forward and grabbed Daryl's arm, attempting to pull him away, and surprisingly he came without much of a fight, though his eyes remained locked on Shane, staring him down.

Shane got into another screaming match with some of the others, and all the noise drew the attention of the walkers inside, who started to pull at the doors and snarl. Most of the others backed away quickly, but Jupiter stayed put, her hand going to her knife, just in case. But the walkers were stuck in there, and the group was safe... For now.

After finding about the walkers in the barn, Jupiter was pretty lost in her thoughts, unsure of what they should do. It'd be brutal to kill Hershel's family in front of him, even if they were walkers. But at the same time, they're a risk to his surviving family, and Jupiter's group. If she needed to, she would put every one of them down, by herself if needs be...

She was almost to the stables with Daryl when she remembered that she'd left her bat in her tent so told Daryl to start getting the horses ready and she'd catch up in a minute. As she ran back to her tent, she saw Carol heading for the stables and wondered if she was going to thank Daryl for not giving up on her little girl. He deserved it. His faith that they would find her was unwavering. Even Jupiter had her doubts about finding the girl alive after so long, but Daryl's faith restored her own, and she knew they were going to find her today. She was so sure of it that she was almost whistling as she returned to the stables. At least until Daryl suddenly stormed passed her, his face like thunder and clearly in pain.

"Stupid bitch," he hissed, and for a moment Jupiter froze, thinking he was talking to her and about to rugby tackle him for it, but then she saw Carol in the stables, tears running down her face and a saddle on the floor, looking like it had been thrown. Deciding to see what was wrong with Daryl after, she walked into the stables and helped Carol pick up the saddle.

"Carol, what happened? What's wrong with Daryl?" She asked, putting her hand on Carol's shoulder gently. Carol sucked in a breath and then explained what she'd said to Daryl.

"He's injured... So are you... If you go out before you've healed, you're both going to end up dead... And Sophia..." She took a deep breath and sniffed, squaring her shoulders before saying the words Jupiter had never expected to come out of Carol's mouth. "Well we might never find her. The group can't lose you two too... I can't."

Jupiter remained silent, seeing why Daryl was angry, but at the same time Carol was trying to be realistic, and Sophia had been gone a long time, and they might never find her. Not that Jupiter was going to let herself believe that, but if Carol needed to think that to deal with it, then Jupiter wasn't going to be the one to burst her bubble. The two of them stood up and Jupiter put the saddle back on the stand before stepping forward and quickly hugging Carol.

"I'll talk to Daryl. You know he didn't mean what he said, right? He's hurt and really wants to find Sophia... He's angry at himself for being hurt... Not at you, ok?" She explained to the older woman, knowing how bad Carol already felt.

When she pulled back, she left her hands on Carols shoulders and smiled at her. Then she turned around and the smile dropped from her face as she stormed from the stables and went in search of Daryl. When she found him he was storming across one of the fields and she had to jog to catch up to him.

"Daryl!" She yelled after him, but he didn't stop until she yelled him again, closer, and he whirled around so fast she thought he was going to hit her.

"WHAT?" He yelled straight at her, making her anger flare up in response and she pushed him back a step, getting him out of her face.

"Daryl Dixon, you better get your arse back over there and apologise to Carol! I can't believe you just called her that!" She snarled, gesturing back to the buildings they'd left far enough behind them that no one could hear what they were yelling at each other, though it was obvious they were arguing by the way people kept looking up at them. Luckily no one came to intervene.

Daryl shook his head quickly and threw his hands up in the air in frustration. "Did you hear what she said to me? She thinks we might never find Sophia!"

Jupiter rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, unbelieving of how unreasonable he was being. "And you don't think it was hard for her to say that to you? To tell you that her daughter might never come home and she doesn't want to lose you too? Daryl she had to make an impossible decision between you and her daughter, and she chose you! Do you know how much she must care about you for that to even register in her mind as a choice?! She's trying to protect the group, and protect her heart. Yeah Sophia might still be alive, but right now, you are alive. Definitely, which is more than she knows about Sophia. So if protecting you is how she's going to deal with it, then you're going to damn well let her!"

Daryl seemed to deflate at Juniper's words, and she was thankful. All the yelling had made her chest feel really tight and painful, so it was good to be able to breathe normally again. Well, almost normally. Her chest was far too tight than comfortable, but her mission was done, and Daryl nodded at her. The two of them set off back towards the house and stables. When they passed the tents, Jupiter retreated into hers and let Daryl go alone to apologise to Carol.

Inside of her tent, she allowed herself to show some weakness, clutching at her ribs as she bent double, the pain making her head swim. She had to get past it though. She and Daryl were gonna find Sophia. She didn't have time for her pity party... She needed pain killers if she had any hope of trekking through the woods in her condition, so she went in search of some.

When she returned, she found Daryl and Carol walking off together and knew she had a little time to kill, so she decided to make herself useful and do some of the chores in the camp, managing to hand clean all of the dirty clothes in camp by the time everyone came back, heading towards the house. Curious about what was going on, she followed, arriving the same time as Shane-who threw her a rifle and then started handing them out to the others.

"Time to grow up!" He announced, and Jupiter frowned, keeping her gun pointed down, afraid of accidentally shooting someone. She'd never held one before, and she wasn't completely comfortable with it. Especially when she heard what Shane was planning. He wanted them to take out the barn full of walkers, and Rick wasn't there to tell them otherwise, meaning everyone was likely to listen to him.

Lori stepped in when Shane tried to give Carl a gun, and Jupiter was just about to go to her aid when T-Dog swore and everyone turned around to see what he was on about. When they saw, Shane truly lost it, dropping the gun on the dirt and starting running towards Rick, Jimmy and Hershel, who were herding two walkers towards the barn. Everyone chased Shane, though only Jupiter managed to keep up with him, and for a second she debated tackling him to stop him from doing whatever he was about to. Her ribs made her hesitate, knowing how excruciating it would be to land on them again, and in the end she couldn't bring herself to do it, instead just keeping up with him and knowing she was there, and armed, should he take things too far.

When they reached the others, Rick yelled at Shane to stay back, but as usual Shane did what he wanted and completely ignored Rick, screaming at his best friend before taking out his gun. At that point, Jupiter had flashbacks to the woods by Atlanta and quickly had her own gun up, pointing it at Shane. Shane didn't notice and instead shot the walker Hershel was holding onto, screaming about how if it was alive and still a person, it wouldn't still be coming at him after those shots.

Everyone else was backing up as Shane lost it, but Jupiter stayed where she was, breathing evenly as she stared into her scope, aiming for Shane's back. She'd have aimed for his head, but as she never fired a gun before she wanted a bigger target to hit. The second he turned his gun on anything that wasn't dead, he was getting a bullet of his own right between the shoulder blades.

But he didn't aim it at anyone living, and instead started yelling at the others as he walked over to the barn. She only just realised what he was going to do a second before he did it and it was too late to stop him. Using a pickaxe, he pulled the lock from the door and then lifted the wooden plank away so the doors would open, retreating with his gun drawn, waiting for the walkers to come out. After a second they did, and the group was forced to open fire or else die.

So Jupiter took aim with the others, backing away as she shot at the walkers, trying hard to block out the sounds of Hershel's family screaming as their family was shot in front of them. Dead or not, she knew it was hard on them, especially when they believed they could be cured. But Jupiter knew different, and even if they'd hate her for it later, she couldn't let the walkers reach the Greene family.

When the shots finally stopped, Jupiter's ears were ringing, but she could still hear the sobs from the family behind her. A dozen or so walkers lay dead on the ground in front of them, who knew how many of them had been family, friends, or neighbours? Now they were nothing more than a pile of rotting corpses, piled on top of each other on the ground.

Jupiter lowed her gun and turned around, seeing the devastation on people's faces, including Rick's, and the self righteous look on Shane's. She'd had enough of him and was just about to throw her gun down and punch his across the jaw when the sound reached her ears and she turned back to the barn, her gun once again raised. There was one left.

She watched the doors, waiting for it to come out, just wanting it to be done, but then the walker stepped into the light, and her gun clattered to the floor. The others had similar reactions, none of them able to move or raise their guns for the final walker. It was only Carol who snapped out of it, running forward, crying her daughters name. Daryl stopped her, holding on to her even as she fell to the ground, still reaching for the little girl in front of her.

But that little girl wasn't Sophia. Sophia was long dead, and the thing in front of them was just a shell left behind and given a new life. A life meant to destroy and consume... Sophia was dead, and had been for a long time, the wound on her neck showing where a walker had got her, probably on that very first day...

They all watched as she walked towards them, snarling and snapping as she looked between them, stepping over the dead bodies of the other walkers. It moved slowly, and no one moved. No one could face up to the fact that Sophia was truly gone, and had been this entire time. Everyone had wanted her to be ok so bad, and the cruel reality check left them all in shock. But still the walker came closer, and someone had to do something soon. Choking on a sob, Jupiter took a shakey step forward, lifting her knife from its sheath in one quick movement. Rick had started moving forwards with his gun, but when he saw Jupiter moving, he stopped, watching her as the others did.

Seeing her moving forward, Sophia's eyes locked onto Jupiter and she snapped in her direction, coming for her slowly. The tears were freefalling from Jupiter's eyes now, but she couldn't back out of it now. Not in front of everyone, and especially not in front of Carol. She needed to end it, for everyone's sake. So she quickly dragged her hand across her eyes, clearing her blurry vision as she took her final steadying breath and then squared her shoulders, closing the gap between her and the little girl.

She moved fast, wrapping her arm around the girl's shoulders in the same second that her other hand drove her knife through her brain, killing the walker but catching her as she fell, helping her softly to the ground. There she looked down into the face of the little girl she'd so believed she was going to help bring back alive and closed her eyes, hating the cruel irony of the situation.

She'd been right that morning in knowing that they'd find Sophia that day. She just wished they'd found her alive.